Be more active, more often

How’s your year so far? Did you manage to start your new healthy lifestyle? We don’t have enough space and phrases to talk about the importance of exercise for your everyday wellbeing. But some steps have to be done, because, in the end, every step counts.

Most of us take part in aerobic activity to improve their cardiovascular endurance and lose weight. People lift weights in order to fortify the muscles and get stronger. These reasons can be enough to get you rushing to the gym and have enough motivation for the week ahead and most of all, keep you healthy. But often people tend to forget a very important part of a training program, which is stretching.

Some people are in a natural way more flexible than others, depending on one’s gender, age, body shape, genetics and level of physical activity. As we age, we tend to lose flexibility and that happens because of our lack of physical activity. It’s a fact, the less active you are, the less flexible you tend to become. But, as it happens with cardiovascular and muscle strength, also, flexibility will improve if we choose to workout more often.

Flexibility workout, which is often neglected, comes with great benefits: a greater freedom of movement and improved posture, increases physical and mental relaxation, it releases muscle tension and soreness and reduces the risk of injury. How can you get more active? Well, by just becoming a member of World Class, the biggest health & fitness network in Romania. From BODYCOMBAT to HIIT, from Yoga to Schwinn Cycling sessions, all you need to keep your body healthy awaits you in our clubs. And every class counts!

We’ll get into the many classes you can choose from a bit later, now let’s see some more insights on that perfect stretching routine. It is important to save some time for stretching, no matter how much you hurry to finish your training. Health is always first! You should allow at least 30 minutes, three times per week, for flexibility workouts. But sometimes five or ten minutes can do the trick and are better than nothing to reduce a possible muscle soreness. Actually, any aerobic activity should be followed by at least a few minutes of stretching.

Before you begin your stretching session, get some minutes just to warm up, because stretching stiff muscles may get you injured. You can start with a simple, low-intensity warm-up, like walking while you swing your arms in a wide circle. The general advice for people starting a workout program is to perform gentle but dynamic stretches before they go full swing and static stretches after the exercising session is done. When you perform a static stretch don’t forget these simple rules to get you in perfect shape. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale as you gently stretch the muscle.

To make sure you always benefit from the best exercises and the best advices from a health and fitness expert, get your membership at the closest World Class club in your city. Many of the group fitness classes such as Yoga, Stretching or Pilates will help you stay in top shape and the World Class instructors are always glad to help with useful advice. For the best results, visit the World Class Romania official site, pick your favourite class and membership, and start living more healthy, more fit! And don’t forget that every exercise counts!